Limits of accounts

What the numbers cannot show.

Not captured

Brand strength, culture, staff quality, technical debt, customer satisfaction and regulatory goodwill do not appear. Neither does anything about the next twelve months.

Accounts are historical and lag reality by months.
Estimates for depreciation, provisions and valuations are judgements, not measurements.

Fraud

Audits sample and can miss deliberate deception. Warning signs are unusual complexity, aggressive targets, dominant individuals and results that never miss expectations.